


Daily Schedule

by neveralarch



Category: Matthew Swift Series - Kate Griffin
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 21:16:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1098679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neveralarch/pseuds/neveralarch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kelly Shiring's night, from dusk to dawn.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Daily Schedule

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cher](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cher/gifts).



> Happy yuletide, cher! This treat got a little long as I was having too much fun writing - I hope you like it.
> 
> Fic contains character injury and swearing. Let me know if you need details.

_5.15 PM: wake up._

Kelly Shiring woke up. She showered, brushed her teeth, and generally dealt with issues of hygiene. She dressed, very quickly. Being an Alderman meant never having to think hard about what to wear to work. She packed up her briefcase for the day - papers, snacks, mystic spark plugs granted to her by the mechanic down the road. She checked her phone for messages.

M. Swift 12.05 PM: hey kelly i kind of need help could you call me

M. Swift 1.25 PM: please call asap

M. Swift 2.05 PM: KELLY

M. Swift 2.10 PM: i am going to die kelly whsiid111

M. Swift 2.30 PM: nevermind. taken care of, everything fine.

Kelly put the phone in her coat pocket.

_6.32 PM: catch bus._

Kelly really missed the days when the Aldermen had an unreasonable budget and could afford things like company cars. On the other hand, taking the bus got you out in the fresh air. And you met people.

Kelly smiled, brightly, at the other people on the bus. They looked away. The bus bumped and jostled. Kelly kept smiling.

_7.00 PM: arrive at work._

Kelly walked in as the last of the day shift walked out. She took the stairs up to the offices - it was good exercise - and walked down the hall to the Midnight Mayor's door. She knocked. Silence. She knocked again.

Something groaned.

"Everything all right?" called Kelly. "Do you need an ambulance?"

"'M fine," said Matthew, muffled by the door. "Woke me up."

"You shouldn't sleep in your office," said Kelly. "Shall I bring you some coffee? Pastry?"

"Any emergencies?" asked Matthew.

"Not yet," said Kelly. "I could get bagels. There's a new shop that might still be open."

"I'm going back to sleep," said Matthew.

_7.15 PM - 11.45 PM: answer telephone._

"-just want a few minutes of his time," said the high warlock of Ruskin Park. "Just want to, ah, touch base."

"The Mayor's schedule is very full," said Kelly. She glanced at the book where she kept the Mayor's schedule. Today's entries had been crossed out and 'SLEEPING' written over top in big red letters. Kelly had moved all of the appointments to later in the week or later in the month or tentatively never. 

"I hate to impose," said the warlock. "But there is a giant magnetic rhinoceros, so..."

"I'll see what I can do," said Kelly. "Have a nice morning!"

She hung up and made a note. Giant... magnetic... rhinoceros. Yes. She highlighted the note in yellow, to mark it as a moderate priority.

_12.10 AM: lunch._

"I brought you a sandwich!" called Kelly.

There was a groan from the Mayor's office. It was a little louder than before, which might be a good sign.

"It's got cucumbers," said Kelly.

There were a few crashes, and the soft slick sound of a pile of paperwork on the desk becoming a morass of paperwork on the floor. Footsteps. The door opened.

"We like cucumbers," said Matthew. "Thanks."

Kelly handed over the sandwich, along with a bottle of tea, a bag of crisps, and an apple. In fact, she just handed Matthew a large bag of food. It looked like he needed it. "Is your nose broken again?" asked Kelly.

Matthew touched his nose and winced. "It's been set already. Disagreement with the Tribe."

"I'll make a note," said Kelly, and pushed past Matthew to sit in the one chair that didn't have anything nasty in it. She pulled a sandwich and a bottle of orange juice out of her own bag. Matthew stared at her, and then sighed and sat on the floor.

They ate their lunch, and Matthew started to tell her about his day.

_1.45 AM: confrontation with splinter group of the Tribe._

"-be life, we be fire, we be _angry_ -"

Blue sparks danced along the alleyway, and wild Tribe magic melted before it.

"Bloody fucking sorcerers, fuck." A man with duct-taped fingers and a handkerchief covering half his face aimed a pistol at the back of Matthew's head. Kelly shot him in the knee.

"Fuck!"

"-little flames," ranted Matthew, "you will burn and flicker and fade, little, pitiful flames-"

"I'll call you an ambulance if you put the gun down," said Kelly.

The man put the gun down.

_2.45 AM: at hospital._

"-think my leg's broken," said Matthew. "Also we might throw up. Just a warning."

"It's just a sprained ankle," said Dr. Seah. "Stop whinging."

Kelly played pinball on her phone while she waited. Matthew only threw up a little, and he was fine to go back to work afterward.

_3.30 - 5.00 AM: paperwork._

"-Alleyway sustained minor damages during mystic battle. Used one (1) bullet to protect Mayor, request replacement. No deaths, three casualties with moderate wounds. Relations with the main body of the Tribe continue normal-"

Kelly finished up the last form and gathered up her things. It had been a very long night. She was going home to her flat, where she would pull out the ice cream, put on a few old episodes of _Doctor Who_ , and watch the sun come up. Yes.

She passed the Mayor's office on the way out. The door was open. Kelly paused.

"Mr. Mayor?" she called. "Matthew?"

There was a groan. This one sounded especially heart-felt. Kelly considered.

"Matthew, do you like ice cream?"

_5.30 AM: watch sun rise._

"I don't understand what's happening," said Matthew.

"They're saving the world from aliens," said Kelly. "Pass the double chocolate, please."

"Which ones are the aliens?" Matthew handed over the carton.

"The robot-things." Kelly pointed out a Cyberman. "But also the Doctor, I suppose. And everyone on this planet is technically an alien."

"I _really_ don't understand what's happening." Matthew leaned back, gingerly adjusting his bad leg. "We like the color, though. Of the thing, the TARDIS. Oh, is he dead?"

"Temporarily," said Kelly. She sucked on her spoon and watched the Doctor regenerate. Then she got up to closed the blinds, because the sun was getting in her eyes.

"We ate all of the lemon sorbet," said Matthew. "Um. Sorry."

Kelly beamed at the sunrise. On the whole, she thought, it had been a rather nice night.


End file.
